By Audra McQuarie, Vice President, Registrar at the University of Phoenix
On July 21, 2024, I arrived in Washington, D.C., to participate in AACRAO’s Annual Congressional Hill Day.
For those unfamiliar, AACRAO Hill Day allows members to engage with congressional offices to discuss their work and share their perspectives, as practitioners, on how policy impacts the work they do daily.
As AACRAO Advocates, we discussed many of the association's legislative priorities, including:
While it is always exciting to be in Washington, DC, I could feel the energy changing around us with the timing of this event coinciding with the announcement of changes in the Presidential election. In a way, it made being on Capitol Hill and the meetings with the House and Senate offices even more significant and exciting.
This opportunity to serve as an advocate on AACRAO’s Congressional Hill Day provided me with an opportunity to fulfill a long-time professional goal of mine. As the Registrar at the University of Phoenix, my passion has been centered around creating academic policies that best serve our students and enjoying the reward of seeing the benefits that these changes can have on our student success. I have always had the desire to participate in a process that allowed me to use my voice and share my perspectives with policy decision-makers to have a broader impact on higher education. As I walked into my meetings with Arizona Congressional Offices, I realized that I was now being given this opportunity to make a difference. I was in awe by everything around me – the beauty and history that had been made in these buildings, the energy of those working on The Hill, and the eagerness of the congressional staff to listen and understand our perspectives on higher education legislative priorities. It was an inspirational day that concluded with a meeting in Senator Kelly’s office (with a space suit on display) and an underground train ride to observe a session in the US Senate Gallery.
This experience definitely checked a box that I was hoping to accomplish in my career, and it was the perfect way to celebrate reaching 25 years in higher education at the end of this month. Thank you to AACRAO for providing the avenue for admissions
and registrar professionals to use their voice in a meaningful way and for the opportunity to meet new colleagues and friends as part of this experience.
Visit AACRAO's Get Involved page to learn about other ways to take advantage of your AACRAO membership.